Prosecutor General Requests to Hear President Temer Testify in Inquiry Regarding Port of Santos

10/03/2017 - 11h34

Prosecutor General Raquel Dodge requested permission from the Supreme Court (STF) to hear the testimonies of president Michel Temer and eight other people as part of an inquiry that is looking into possible irregularities surrounding a decree signed in 2017 that conceded the administration of the Port of Santos to company Rodrimar.

An investigation was opened following the examination of documents that were seized during Operation Patmos and the interception of phone calls that were made by former congressman Rodrigo Rocha Loures (PMDB-PR), who was also a former aide to president Temer and is currently under house arrest.

Former Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot had requested to look into allegations of corruption and money laundering in connection with the elaboration of the decree.

The Port of Santos, which is on the coast of São Paulo, has historically been subject to the influence of the president and his party, the PMDB.

Ms. Dodge requested authorization not only to hear Temer and Rocha Loures, but also to hear the testimonies of Antônio Grecco (Rodrimar owner), Ricardo Mesquita (Rodrimar CEO), João Batista Lima Filho (a retired colonel of the Military Police and a partner at Argeplan), Gustavo Do Vale Rocha (deputy chief of legal affairs of the Civil House), José Yunes (former Temer aide), Ricardo Saud (former JBS executive) and Edgar Safdie (owner of several companies, many of which are active in the real estate sector).

The current Prosecutor General also requested the registry of campaign donations that were made by Rodrimar and its partners to Temer and the PMDB during the 2014 and 2016 elections.

PRAISE

Temer issued a statement early evening on social media, stating that the Prosecutor General did "that which we had requested all along": "[She] allowed us to position ourselves on the matter beforehand, respecting the rule of law."

"That is how Justice is done: through prudence and responsibility, listening to all the parties involved", the president wrote on his Twitter account.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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	Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters
	Brazil's President Michel Temer speaks during a press statement at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia